WRITTEN QUESTION E-0897/02 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Pupils dropping out of compulsory education.
Date: 2002-04-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, Greece, competence of the Member States, dropout, education statistics, principle of subsidiarity, school legislation

C 229 E/156

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 May 2002)

Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste, as amended (1) defines waste as essentially meaning
any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard. The definition has
been interpreted by the Court of Justice so as to mean that, following the environmental protection
principles enshrined in Article 174(2) of the EC Treaty, the concept of waste may not be interpreted
restrictively (2). In relation to ferrochromium scrap referred to by the Honourable Member, a request for a
preliminary ruling is currently pending before the Court that may lead to further clarification on the status
of scrap metal materials in relation to the Directive (3).

The Sixth Environmental Action Programme of the Community calls for clarification of the legislative
distinction between waste and non-waste (4). Within the context of the Programme, the Commission will
take steps to undertake a review on how best to achieve this task.

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 (OJ L 78, 26.3.1991) and

Commission Decision 96/350/EC of 24 May 1996 (OJ L 135, 6.6.1996).

(2) Cases C-418/97 and C-419/97 ARCO Chemie Nederland and Epon [2000] ECR I-4475, at paragraphs 39-40 of

judgment.

(3) Case C-444/00 The Queen on the application of Mayer Parry Recycling Ltd.
(4) Article 8(2)(iv) of draft Decision of
the Council

the Parliament and of

Environmental Action Programme (PE-CONS 3618/02).

laying down the Sixth Community

(2002/C 229 E/180)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0891/02

by Emmanouil Bakopoulos (GUE/NGL) to the Council

Subject: Regular meetings between Mr Prodi and Mr Schröder

(27 March 2002)

Following the meeting between the Commission President, Mr Prodi, and the German Chancellor,
Mr Schröder, in Barcelona, it was decided that the Commission and the German Government would meet
regularly prior to each summit. It is reported that the first such encounter will take place in Berlin before
the next summit.

Will this be followed by similar meetings with leaders of other countries or will this initiative be restricted
to Germany and possibly other larger countries?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

The Council would ask the Honourable Member to put his question directly to the Commission.

(2002/C 229 E/181)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0897/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Pupils dropping out of compulsory education

(5 April 2002)

According to Greek press reports, 150 000 children have abandoned their lower secondary school
education in recent years in Greece, while 10 000 children drop out of compulsory education annually.
These findings regarding school drop-out rates came from the Greek Educational Institute’s ‘Registry of
Lower Secondary School Pupils entering the Employment Market’. According to these findings, the largest

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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lower secondary school drop-out rates occur in the prefectures of Evritania, Ilia, Lakonia, Xanthi, Rodopi
and in ‘tourist’ areas of Crete, the Dodecanese Islands and the Ionian Islands.

Is the Commission aware of this? How could it ensure that Greece takes measures specifically designed to
counter this trend? What are the compulsory education drop-out rates in other Member States in other EU
Member States? What are the current illiteracy rates in each of the 15 EU Member States?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(31 May 2002)

In the field of education,
in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity,
themselves responsible for the organisation and content of their education systems. It is therefore not for
the Commission to intervene in order that Greece should take particular measures.

the Member States are,

As regards statistics in the Member States, Eurostat provides the following data:

Drop-out rate from compulsory education by EU Member State, plus Iceland and Norway
(% of the 18-24 age-group receiving only a lower secondary education) 2001

Average EUR 15

European Union (15 countries)

By country

B

DK

D

GR

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

AT

P

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

Belgium

Denmark

Germany
(incl. former German Democratic Republic (GDR) since 1991)

Greece

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Austria

Portugal

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Iceland (3)

Norway (3)

(1) 19,7

13,6

16,8

(2) I

16,5

28,0

13,1

I

25,9

(1) 16,8

15,3

10,2

(1) 44,3

10,3

(1) 7,7

I

(1) 28,6

9,2

(1)
Estimate.
(2) Not available.
(3) Countries covered by the Socrates programme.

The Commission does not have any comprehensive and reliable data on illiteracy rates in the 15 Member
States, nor any data on the drop-out rate from lower secondary education.